Ford 6.4 diesel

[davygp38]

Anyone have a 6.4 Ford diesel. I am looking for a new to me truck, and I heard nothing but bad about the 6.0. I am a Ford guy, but I have seen what a Duramax can do. I hate to go Chevy, but I need to tow 20000 pounds once in a while.

 

[huckie]

I tried one out and thought the motor was to die for. I felt the chassis made more noise then my 96 dodge ram. I would do anything other then spend money on a goverment motor vehical.

 

[jenkinsph]

It will be interesting to see how the new 2011 Ford diesel turns out. Should be available in a couple of months, 395 hp and 6.7 litre as I recall.

I hope it does because I want to purchase another F550 for my business. I do have an F550 6.0 4x4 5sp auto that I use to move my equipment around and it does have good capabilities for towing with the 33,000lb. gcwr package.

You might consider an older 7.3 2002 or early 2003 if you can find one in good shape, I have a 2002 7.3 with 4.10 limited slip and it does a good job with goosenecks.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Anyone have a 6.4 Ford diesel. I am looking for a new to me truck, and I heard nothing but bad about the 6.0. I am a Ford guy, but I have seen what a Duramax can do. I hate to go Chevy, but I need to tow 20000 pounds once in a while.

I have heard nothing but good things about the 6.4 but the MPG are not nearly as good as the 6.0 or even the 7.3 I could not see pulling 20K with a GM chassis. Just not its strength.

I have 2 6.0's and they have been a joy. Not a single issue with either the 2004 or 2006.

Chris

 

[Kevin M]

I have not heard much on the 6.4 liters and I would wait at least a year on a brand new motor ! As a 7.3 owner I'm keeping it till the wheels fall off ! My father has a stock 2005 6.0 with zero power adders and so far @ 70k no issues. My friends that have trouble with 6.0s use power adders and red fuel. Something to think about.

 

[burnetma]

I have 50,000+ miles on my 2008 and I absolutely love it! Awesome tow vehicle. Check out thedieselstop for more information.

 

[Dargo]

I have not heard much on the 6.4 liters and I would wait at least a year on a brand new motor ! As a 7.3 owner I'm keeping it till the wheels fall off ! My father has a stock 2005 6.0 with zero power adders and so far @ 70k no issues. My friends that have trouble with 6.0s use power adders and red fuel. Something to think about.

My luck seems different. The only two true Lemons I bought, that were bought back by the manufacturer under the Lemon Law, were Toyotas. Go figure. I'm not too keen on them obviously. I had a 7.3 PSD, 1999 model, and I really wasn't impressed with it at all. It leaked like a stuck pig and just couldn't pull enough for me. At the time I had a 'modified' '96 5.9 Cummins powered Dodge and the 7.3 was not only a dog compared to it, but it seems like it constantly broke and was in the shop. It's been a while, but it seems like I had a dozen cam sensor thingys go bad and all sorts of injector issues besides it just flat not wanting to start in cold weather.

I took the advice of a Ford diesel mechanic who drag races diesel pickups and pulls with them. He loves the 6.0 and talked me into one. Once I got an oil leak (some skirt plate gasket or something) fixed under warranty I had the tech who talked me into buying it talk me into letting him put ARP head studs in it as well. He is also the one who turned me on to the SCT programmer/tuner for the 6.0 and gave me several custom tunes. Holy mother! Does that truck ever run!!! I'll admit that I've been a bad boy and towed over 20k all the way from FL to Indiana with it as well without any issues.

My personal opinion is that if you have a qualified Ford diesel mechanic somewhere, I wouldn't be afraid of another 6.0 PSD by any means. I love my truck. With the Dodge, I loved the power and engine but the truck was "okay". My love affair with GM pickups ended in the late 70's and I've not seen any compelling reason to go back. The fact that they took me for more money than I care to discuss with their robbing the public stock deal just seals their fate with me. I have 2 GM products left. One is a collector car which I'll keep. The other is a 2004 Impala. It runs decent but I can see all sorts of areas where they took short cuts and the build quality is exceptionally poor. Heck, they didn't even bother to clear coat the door jams or under the hood or deck lid. I mean, seriously, what could that save them per unit; $10 bucks? Shame on GM!

 

[RollingsFarms]

from the few people i've talked to that own a 6.4 they claim it's a pulling mother....well you know. they rave about the gobs of power this motor can produce. here in SC we dont have emission inspections, so alot of people remove the DPF's and fuel milage increases drammatically from what i understand. warranty gets voided though, but again i'm not hearing any problems from these engines other then poor fuel mileage due to the dpf's. as for the 6.0 and it's bad reputation goes, i'm still seeing quite alot of Ford's on the road in my area that have the 6.0 in them. that's gotta say something that they must not be as bad as people made them out to be. dealership here is knocking off 12K on the f-250's and f-350's without any arm twisting whatsoever. trying to move them before the new ones arrive i guess.

 

[wmonroe]

You are right about the 6.0 there are some good ones but that engine has cost Ford a fortune in warranty money. The 6.4 is a decent engine from what I've seen so far. The only consistent downside it has is the fuel economy is not as good as Chevy, Dodge or the previous 6.0

 

[davygp38]

What is the "dpf"?

 

[aczlan]

What is the "dpf"?

Diesel Particulate Filter

Aaron Z

 

[JESSE1]

I have an '08 F-450 with the 6.4. Unbelievable power, smooth and quiet. Fuel mileage is not great with the 4.30 axle ratio but the rest of the truck makes up for it.

 

[thompsjk]

I have a 08 6.4 SRW F350 4X4 with the DPF removed. I run a Spartan tuner with the 210 hp program all of the time and average 18 MPG. I have had no problems and love it. But I only have 33,000 miles on it. You can put the DPF back in and reload the stock program in about 30 mins. if you need warenty work dune. I put 160,000 miles on my 03 6.0 with out any issues.

 

[Lt CHEG]

I test drove a 2010 F250 Crew Cab XLT 4x4, short box with the 6.4 liter diesel last week. It was a GREAT engine. Plenty of power, pretty quiet, especially while in motion and really good acceleration. The problem as I see it though was the fuel economy. I averaged about 13.4 mpg according to the computer in a 30 mile or so mix of city and non interstate highway driving. At that level of fuel consumption, I could not justify the purchase of a new truck with the 6.4 liter diesel. I'm a little disappointed with the fuel consumption of my current truck and would consider a diesel as long as it offered the same or better fuel economy empty and noticeably better economy with a load. The 6.4 as I tested it doesn't seem to be able to provide that, so I will look into the new 6.7 and the new duramax as both of them are said to offer large improvements in fuel economy. I've heard people getting better economy with removal of the dpf as well as with the use of programmers, but even the 18mpg that thompsjk doesn't seem to be as good as current cummins and duramax owners are getting, or even what 6.0 power stroke users are getting. Not to mention that I've heard dealers are finding ways to find out if the programming has ever been changed and are using that as a ground to deny warranty claims. I pay a lot of money for a new truck so that I can have a warranty and would not do something that would risk that warranty coverage. I know for me, at this time I will be looking at something other than the 6.4 power stroke if I choose to upgrade my truck.

 

[Dargo]

I don't know if it's because I'm almost always hauling or towing, but for the last 13 or 14 years of driving diesel pickups I've never seen anywhere close to what a lot of people report. With my '96 Dodge I averaged about 11 and I average about the same with my '06 PSD. My trucks are 4X4 with dual rear wheels, but I've heard some say that they get over 20 mpg with similar setups. Being that I am friends with at least 4 or 5 guys who own GM diesels who get about the same mpg I do, I really have to question some of these wild claims. One of my employees bought a SRW F350 with a 6.4 PSD that is bone stock and he's never seen above 9.5 mpg in almost 2 years of ownership. I'm not sure a crew cab DRW 4X4 F350 with a 6.4 would get over 13 mpg in mixed driving if it was being hauled on a trailer. LOL He says that the dealers he's taken it to and other owners report the same. The absolute best MPG I ever got was one tank in my '96 Dodge when I ran nearly 400 miles with cruise set at 55 mph with no load or no trailer. I got 14. something that tank. Me thinks there is a lot of hot air floating about when it comes to the fuel economy of diesel pickups.

 

[JESSE1]

I can reset my trip computer and the mileage will eventually drop down to 11.8, that's not towing a trailer. If I keep my speed down to around 60 mph I can get about 12. During the winter my mileage dropped to about 11 and now it's back up to nearly 12.

 

[XterraJohn]

I don't know if it's because I'm almost always hauling or towing, but for the last 13 or 14 years of driving diesel pickups I've never seen anywhere close to what a lot of people report. With my '96 Dodge I averaged about 11 and I average about the same with my '06 PSD. My trucks are 4X4 with dual rear wheels, but I've heard some say that they get over 20 mpg with similar setups. Being that I am friends with at least 4 or 5 guys who own GM diesels who get about the same mpg I do, I really have to question some of these wild claims. One of my employees bought a SRW F350 with a 6.4 PSD that is bone stock and he's never seen above 9.5 mpg in almost 2 years of ownership. I'm not sure a crew cab DRW 4X4 F350 with a 6.4 would get over 13 mpg in mixed driving if it was being hauled on a trailer. LOL He says that the dealers he's taken it to and other owners report the same. The absolute best MPG I ever got was one tank in my '96 Dodge when I ran nearly 400 miles with cruise set at 55 mph with no load or no trailer. I got 14. something that tank. Me thinks there is a lot of hot air floating about when it comes to the fuel economy of diesel pickups.

A friend's dad showed me the trip computer in his truck showing an average MPG north of 20. As I recall, it's an '04 Duramax, and he claimed that that mileage was just from him driving back and forth to work.

 

[crashz]

My father has an 04 Dodge diesel. I borrowed it 3 times for a week each, and have gotten right about 18-19 mpg with mostly unloaded highway use. He claims he has gotten up to 22 mpg in it, but I think he just reads the display. I checked the display off of hand calcs and it is off a little.

BTW - this truck is an auto, 4x4, SRW, Reg. Cab, with 4.10 LS.

I had a 1983 GMC 3/4 ton 4x4 with 6.2L diesel that would get 25 mpg without OD. Could barely fight its way out of a wet paper bag though...

 

[mnfarmr]

I have a 2000 7.3 that I love, when the time to update came, I was skeptical of the 6.4 based on the 6.0 problems. However I got a deal on a new 08 a year ago to good to pass up. The pick up has been fantastic, great power, and a far better ride than the 2000. Yes the mileage sucks, 13-14 mpg's, but all the brands 08+ mileage suffers with that dang DPF system. I've had zero problems with it and would recommend a 6.4 to anyone.

 

[Egon]

Me thinks there is a lot of hot air floating about when it comes to the fuel economy of diesel pickups.

Golly, just a few days ago there was a video here showing the 2011 Ford diesel get something like 41 mpg.